THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS BAD PUBLICITY: A lot of the early MSM stories devoted to blogs were less than positive. But it didn't matter. When the media think you're important enough to criticize, they help make you important enough to criticize.

Which leads me to think that the recent flurry of articles about Kos is, unfortunately, good for the man rather than bad. This week, Newsweek has what CJR Daily describes as a three-page long "provocative takedown" of Kos.

Actually, I'd say the article is pretty tame. It suggests Kos suffers from a bit of "paranoia" -- You don't say! -- but makes no effort to paint him as a far-left ideologue. More importantly, the article leads off with a description of how incredibly important Kos is:

Every major media outlet in the country had attended [Kos' first annual] conference, detailing the spectacle of Democratic bigwigs (including the party's Senate minority leader and four of its leading 2008 presidential aspirants) embracing Moulitsas as the guru of an activist movement they were eager to exploit.

For an outright negative take on Kos, you can read David Brooks' recent column [not free] about him. Brooks' basic point is that if you hire Kos as a political consultant, he'll endorse you on his blog even if he already declared his support for your opponent. In other words, Kos is for sale.

Is Brooks right? In some respects, it doesn't matter. The real import of his column is that Kos is important enough to become the subject of a personal attack by the NYT's in-house conservative.

Actually, I don't know if Brooks is right. If you want to find out, Glenn has some links to those who think Brooks got his facts wrong. Feel free to read up and report your findings below.

David,In all his years of internet ranting Kos accomplished what? Any elected officials outside of Mad Howard to destroy the DNC?Anybody outside the NYY stable, and that, of course, includes squish Brooks, realizes the only motivating tool Markos and his astrologer partner Armstrong are working with is clinically called "Bush Derangement Syndrome".

Well, Mike, I know what a big fan you are of Kos and of liberals in general, but creating a forum for hundreds of thousands of active liberals is an important achievement. After all, I think conservatives have shown what a motivated base can accomplish.

KOS is like Michael Moore ... a lot of huff and puff lauded by the left, and a trojan horse for the right. as long as kos and his ilk, like moore, become the mouthpiece of the left the republicans will continue to have advantages at the polls. the left doesnt get it at all. michael moore helped lose the presidency for the dems, along with their flip-flopping candidate. bush should not have won, instead i think he sent a thank you note to mr. moore. as long as kos is front and center in the news the dems are assured of more failure.

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